The Internet Is Obsessed With Blackout Tattoos

The Internet Is Obsessed With This Blackout Tattoo Technique

Models and reality stars alike ushered in the tiny-tattoo trend last year, but if the latest technique blowing up on Instagram is any indication, it's definitely on the way out. In a complete-180 turn of events, Cosmopolitan reports that people are tattooing their body parts entirely black. Sorry, delicate-ink lovers — this isn't for you.Chester Lee, a tattoo artist in Singapore, recently posted an image of a woman with her chest area and arms tattooed pitch-black — a shot that has garnered 6,000 likes and counting. At first glance, the design looks like body paint, but it's actually the work of Lee's trusty tattoo gun. "That particular piece, I [had] been at it for couple of months, about 20-odd hours," Lee told Cosmopolitan.

Lee, who has been performing the tattoo method for about five years now, started his career doing more "basic" designs, but eventually decided to branch out. "I was doing traditional, old-school tattoos for a number of years, and I won an award for that, but I gradually got bored because of the boundaries that restrict the art itself," he told People. He notes that the technique is often used to cover up old ink.

Blackwork designs (covering your body with massive, black-tinted areas), are influenced by Polynesian tattoos as well as graphic art. So this is by no means a new trend. Regardless, we can't help but imagine how painful the process must be. And forget about covering this bad boy up in a couple of years — it's definitely a decision you should be 100% sure about.

We've reached out to a tattoo artist for comment and will update this post once we hear back.